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FAMILIES flocked to witness history in the making as kite enthusiasts from across the globe set a new world record in Portsmouth on Saturday.

This year marked the 26th Portsmouth International Kite Festival and the theme was ‘The Seven Continents’.

Run by the Kite Society of Great Britain and Portsmouth City Council, the two-day event, which took place over the weekend, saw fliers from as far afield as Australia, Canada and South Africa visit the city – and a world record was broken on day one.

Jon Bloom, from the Kite Society of Great Britain, said: ‘At 1pm on Saturday we attempted to break the world record for flying the most number of trilobite kites in an arena at once.

‘We did it, and managed to get 23 going at the same time. It’s been a very good weekend overall, one of the best in fact. It would not have been possible without the support of Portsmouth City Council, including councillor Linda Symes.

‘We had lots of kites in the sky and I think we had more people attend this year than we did in 2016.

‘We hope to be back on the same weekend next year.’

The event is internationally recognised, and is listed as one of the 23 biggest kite festivals in the world.

It hosts a colourful demonstration of the art of kite flying and kite making, reflecting the tradition of kites across the globe.

Visitors were also able to enjoy a range of stalls and activities.

Sue Collier from Drayton attended the festival with her husband Mike, and daughter Imogen, six. She said: ‘We’ve been coming to the festival for about 10 years. It’s fun for the family and we’re not kite enthusiasts, but we have a go at flying every time.

‘Imogen loves the day and the display is great too, it’s not often you get to see so many colourful kites in the sky at once.’